Does your mission need some money?

Many of the business owners I work with have a mission to share their work to help other people enjoy a better life. Whether it's from their own story of struggle that they have turned into a strength and then into a business or a calling to change something they thought was wrong, they have a desire to make something better.

And because their mission is so important, their desire calls them to make a living with it, and thus a small business is born.

Desire is a powerful force, and it can take you a great distance to fulfill your mission.

But one day you find that desire is not enough.

The struggle becomes too much. You look around and wonder what in the heck you've gotten yourself into.

And your dream begins to die.

When you have a business or a professional practice, this usually happens when the cash gets too tight to cover the bills, you don't have many leads, and your hopes of getting more people to work with you begin to fade.

It's a terrible place to be. You feel trapped, you feel like you've done something wrong, you want to give up, but you don't want to abandon what is so important to you.

You enter the Reckoning Point of Business where you go through the motions while feeling a deep level of anxiety about whether it is all going to work out.

Antonia’s Story

This happened Antonia, who became my client when she got completely fed up with not being able to tell people what she did in a way that got them interested in working with her. With 30+ years of experience as a master healer, she was explaining her modality instead of the results her work could provide.

With a simple tweak of how she introduced herself, Antonia began getting more attention and interest at networking meetings and as a result began booking more client sessions. She was back to fulfilling her mission.

Because in addition to feeling frustrated about not getting clients, she was getting worn down by not bringing in money.

Money is #4 - NOT #1 for You

Here's the thing about mission-driven entrepreneurs. You just aren't that into money. It's probably #4 on your priority list after

Making a contribution

Creating meaning in your life

Learning and growing

So let's say that making money comes about 4th for you. You know it's necessary, but you just are not paying that much attention to it.

But here's the rub: Your Mission Needs to Be Funded with Money

You have to be able to take care of yourself, pay your bills, save for the future to stay on task with your mission. Being depleted, anxious, or self-doubting is not going to cut it in the Mission Game.

You need to be filled up, energized, excited, on purpose, and optimistic to generate change in the world. You need to be a force to be reckoned with.

And this happens when you and your mission are well-funded:

when you have surplus in the bank,

when you can pay your bills and put some aside for the future,

when you can pay for nutritious food, self-care, and support and

when you can fund the creative initiatives you want to put in place to expand your reach.

So rather than seeing money as something to be avoided because it's dirty or bad and avoiding learning to sell well because it's sleazy and manipulative, let's get real.